New route to Upper Mission gets green light

New road approved after only 120 residents signed petitions against it

Commuters in the Upper Mission will have a third route to central Kelowna in 2019.

The expected opening of a new $9.5-million stretch South Perimeter Road should help ease traffic congestion on Lakeshore Road and Gordon Drive, city officials say.

“The proponent is in the process of finalizing their designs for the road, and then we’ll review them,” James Kay, the city’s development engineering manager, said Tuesday.

“Our hope is the work will start this summer, with completion by the middle of next year,” Kay said.

The new road will extend 2.3 kilometres from the end of Gordon Drive to Stewart Road West. It will cross Bellevue Creek.

The project received the green light this week after only 120 Kelowna residents signed petitions against it. That was far fewer than the 11,000 that would have been needed to scrap the roadworks or put it to a referendum.

Voter consent was required because financing of the road requires a commitment of public money beyond a five-year period.

Originally, the road was not scheduled for construction until at least 2025.

But the timetable was advanced when developers active in the Upper Mission agreed to foot the entire bill up front, without the usual 15 per cent assist from city taxes for such a project.

That’s because they see the new road as key to the continued marketability of homes in the Upper Mission. Prospective buyers will be pleased, the developers reckon, not to have to deal with worsening traffic delays on Lakeshore and Gordon.

Coincident with the road’s construction, the city will improve sections of Stewart Road West to handle the increased traffic.

The new road will also improve the viability of a planned shopping centre in The Ponds neighbourhood, and provide more direct connection between neighbourhoods and new schools in the Upper Mission.

Developers will be repaid over a period of up to seven years from development cost charges collected by the city and earmarked for the Southwest Mission.

Without the direct contribution of municipal taxes, the city will save up to $1.4 million in public funds for use on other transportation projects.

Our hope is the work will start this summer, with completion by the middle of next year. James Kay